IN THIS WEEK’S NEWSLETTER:

• 🚀 Is 2026 the Time to Sell?

• ✅ When To Kill It Or Pivot: A Startup Founder’s Survival Guide

• 🤖 AI Tip of the Month

• 🎉 26 Best Startup Ideas to Launch in 2026

• 🎙️ This Month’s Clubhouse!

• 🔥 Time to Sell Index

Listen to this newsletter👇

🚀 Time to Sell Index (TTSI) Climbs to 26.9 in 2025!

Eighteen months ago, we launched the Time to Sell Index (TTSI) to track market sentiment and help founders better time their exits.

Why?

It’s personal.

In the late ’90s, I spent 10 years building a startup to a $180M valuation, only to lose it all when the dot-com crash hit.

We missed the exit window.

That experience taught me a hard truth: timing can make or break your outcome. In fact, in Start. Scale. Exit. Repeat., we explore how timing alone can account for more than 50% of your company’s final valuation.

When the market is frothy, you can command premium multiples.

When it’s not, you’re fighting uphill.

We're still far from the highs of 2021, and we may never return to those levels, but 2025 showed signs of a rebound and momentum.

 Market Rebound in 2025

The IPO market surged to 347 public listings in 2025:

• A 125% increase from the low point of 2022

• A 54% increase from 2024

These numbers matter because IPO activity is the leading signal of liquidity across the startup ecosystem. It flows from the top: Public companies acquire private companies. Private equity and VC firms seek liquidity from those exits. If the IPO window closes, deal flow dries up, valuations drop.

TTSI: Your Signal for Market Sentiment

The TTSI hit 26.9 out of 100 for 2025, up sharply from the single digits of 2023. It’s still a buyer’s market, but sentiment is clearly improving.

We use IPO volume as a proxy for market sentiment because it's empirical, forward-looking, and tightly correlated with valuation multiples for growth companies.

When the index crosses 50, we consider it a seller’s market, a time when founders can expect stronger terms, higher valuations, and a broader buyer pool.

2026 Outlook

Based on the current IPO pipeline (~190 companies, up from ~170 at the start of 2025), we project:

• Approximately 388 public listings in 2026

• That would move the TTSI to 32.6, another meaningful step toward a seller's market

If rates drop further or if major tech IPOs land, we could break 400 listings, pushing the index even higher.

Founder Takeaway

Market sentiment is improving and that opens a window.

If you can hold off on selling until the TTSI moves closer to 50, you’ll likely be entering a valuation-friendly environment.

That said, certain sectors (like AI) are already commanding frothy valuations.

Timing your exit is a strategic decision, not just a personal one. Know someone thinking about selling their company?

Share this report with them and encourage them to subscribe to our free monthly Startup Club Edge newsletter for founder-focused insights on timing, valuations, and strategy.

Download Full Report 👇

— Colin C. Campbell

Disclaimer: Startup Club and its AI resources are for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Consult a qualified lawyer for legal matters.

P.S. Don’t forget to tune into today’s Clubhouse 👇

🎙️  15 Ways to use AI to Help Your Startup - Serial Entrepreneur: Secrets Revealed - Friday, Jan 9, 2pm ET 

Join us at 2:00 PM for Serial Entrepreneur as we break down 15 practical ways to use AI to help your startup grow faster.

From marketing and sales to operations and decision-making, you’ll walk away with clear, actionable ideas you can use immediately.

✅ When To Kill It Or Pivot: A Startup Founder’s Survival Guide

A startup’s earliest phase is like a racing video game where you have to pass a checkpoint in a certain amount of time or else the game ends.

New entrepreneurs worry about competitors, but your only real competition in the beginning is the clock.

These are what I call Stage Gates: measurable checkpoints that determine whether you continue, pivot, or shut down.

They’re different from goals because you can miss a couple goals and still make your Stage Gate in time.

But if you miss your Stage Gate, it doesn’t matter how many other goals you hit. It’s game over.

Smart founders don’t just set goals, they clearly define Stage Gates so that they know when they need to pivot, shut down, or accelerate.

Define Your Milestones

There’s really no point in even setting your goals until you define your milestones.

For instance, when we launched GeeksForLess 22 years ago, we set three specific milestones:

• Breaking even after X number of months.

• Profitability after Y number of months.

• Pay off debt after Z number of months.

And if it looked like we might miss a Stage Gate?

Then we had to figure out whether we could pivot so we could still hit the next one, or shut everything down and walk away.

Sometimes Quitting is the Right Call

Quitting gets a bad rap, but there are plenty of times when it’s the right call to make. With one of our tech ventures, Shareholder Blockchain, we had a programmer go rogue.

In our discussions on how to pivot, it quickly became clear that we would miss our first Stage Gate: Developing a Minimum Viable Product.

That Stage Gate was so essential to everything else that missing it led to the decision I made to shut down the entire company.

Rather than wasting more time and money trying to plow ahead, it was far more prudent to simply throw in the towel and move on to the next idea.

Stage Gates must be SMART

A vague Stage Gate does you no good.

Just like any goal you’ve ever set, they need to be SMART:

Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

For instance, a bad Stage Gate sounds like “10X the company.” Good Stage Gates are more tangible: “Reach $100K MRR by Q4.”

If you can’t check off every letter of SMART, then it’s not a solid Stage Gate.

Go back to the drawing board and get specific.

🔥 Read the article here

 🔥 AI Tip of the Month

This month’s AI tip is a practical PDF featuring a curated collection of custom startup GPTs designed to help founders think more clearly, build smarter teams, and evaluate ideas faster.

From defining your purpose and core values to generating ideas, naming your business, testing scalability and defensibility, and building a complementary team, these tools reflect Colin C. Campbell’s real-world startup frameworks and decision-making principles.

Built for entrepreneurs who want clarity, not complexity.

🚀 Trailblazer of the Month

Exciting news, Colin C. Campbell has been named Entrepreneur Organization South Florida’s Trailblazer of the Month, recognizing his leadership, impact, and continued commitment to supporting entrepreneurs.

The feature below highlights Colin’s influence across the startup ecosystem and his role in helping founders think bigger, move faster, and build more resilient businesses.

🚀 Read the full article here

📖 26 Best Startup Ideas to Launch in 2026

We are on the precipice of one of the greatest years to ever start a business in our lifetime.

2026 will usher in massive change driven by AI, automation, and shifting interest rate conditions.

History shows that when technology shifts and capital becomes cheaper at the same time, new companies are born and incumbent’s struggle.

That is good news if you are an operator.

This article is based on a live Startup Club podcast discussion with founders, operators, investors, and businesses that have already succeeded inside our incubator. These are not theoretical ideas or trend chasing.

They are real businesses you can start today!

If you want the raw conversation behind this list, you can listen to the full episode on the Startup Club podcast below, or on your favorite podcast streaming service.

Check out Part 2 of the conversation here.

2026 belongs to founders who move fast with AI, but win by staying human and building what people actually need, in the digital world and the real one.

1) AI Consultant for Businesses

Idea: Help companies implement AI tools and workflows.
Pros: Immediate demand, fast cash flow.
Cons: Competitive market.

2) AI Agent Builder for One Industry

Idea: Build AI agents for a specific vertical such as real estate, legal, or healthcare.
Pros: Clear positioning, pricing power.
Cons: Requires domain expertise.

3) Skilled Trades

Idea: Electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and specialty trades.
Pros: AI resistant, demand exceeds supply.
Cons: Hiring and operations matter.

4) Smart Home Specialist

Idea: Install and maintain smart home systems.
Pros: Growing demand, recurring revenue.
Cons: High customer expectations.

5) Office Internet and Network Reliability Service

Idea: Fix Wi Fi, networking, and uptime for homes and offices.
Pros: Clear pain point customers pay for.
Cons: Troubleshooting varies.

6) Low Labor Cost Franchises

Idea: Franchise models designed to run lean on staffing.
Pros: Proven systems, predictable operations, improved unit economics as borrowing costs decline.
Cons: Location and execution matter.

7) Teach People How to Use AI

Idea: Training focused on outcomes rather than tools.
Pros: Fast to launch, strong demand.
Cons: Requires constant updating.

8) Buy and Run an Airbnb

Idea: Own and operate short term rentals in select markets.
Pros: Strong cash flow potential, lower interest rates improve cash on cash returns.
Cons: Regulatory and seasonality risk.

9) Airbnb Management Company

Idea: Manage Airbnbs for owners who do not want the hassle.
Pros: Asset light, recurring revenue, more owners enter the market as financing becomes cheaper.
Cons: Guest issues never stop.

10) Market Specific Real Estate Investing

Idea: Buy in regions positioned to benefit from rate changes.
Pros: Macro tailwinds amplify returns, falling rates unlock pent up demand.
Cons: Timing matters.

🚀 To see the full list check out the article here

My Last Thoughts:

The best businesses aren’t started when conditions feel perfect.

They’re started just before everyone else realizes the conditions have already changed.

2026 will be defined by massive disruption.

The kind of change large corporations fear. That fear creates opportunity. It opens the door to one of the best startup environments we’ve seen in decades.

You don’t need the perfect idea.

You need one idea.

Pick it. Execute. Launch. Learn faster than the market around you. Speed beats polish. Progress beats hesitation. The only real failure is not starting.

Nothing compounds like learning.

📅 This Month’s Clubhouse Schedule!

🎙️ The Power of Business Coaching - Complete Entrepreneur
Thursday, January 15 | 5:00–6:00 PM ET

A focused conversation on how business coaching helps entrepreneurs gain clarity, improve decision-making, and accelerate growth. We’ll explore when coaching creates the most impact, what to look for in the right coach, and how guidance and accountability can unlock better results at every stage of business.

🎙️ The Smart Way to Exit Your Business - Serial Entrepreneur: Secrets Revealed
Friday, January 16 | 2:00–3:00 PM ET 

A strategic look at how founders can prepare for a successful exit long before it’s time to sell. We’ll cover timing, valuation drivers, common mistakes, and the decisions that maximize both financial and personal outcomes when transitioning out of a business.

🎙️ Inside a Repeat Founder’s Playbook - Serial Entrepreneur: Secrets Revealed Friday, January 23 | 2:00–3:00 PM

David Gardner shares hard-earned lessons from building, funding, and exiting multiple startups, including what investors look for early, why founder coachability matters, and the patterns that separate one win from many.

🚀 TTSI Climbs to 26.9 in 2025!

TTSI Final Score for 2025: 26.9 out of 100

The Time to Sell Index (TTSI) is based on 25 years of IPO data and tracks market momentum from trough to peak.

A score of 26.9 indicates a continued recovery from the post-pandemic lows of 2022 and signals movement toward a more balanced exit environment for founders.

🔥 Check Me Out on TikTok!

@startupclubhq

Delegation isn’t about offloading tasks; it’s about empowering others with responsibility. As entrepreneurs, we grow by focusing on the bi... See more

🚀 How to Support Startup Club

Thank you for reading along for another issue of the StartUp Club newsletter!

You can further support StartUp.Club by:

1. Sharing it with a friend or fellow entrepreneur! We’ve got a great referral program!

2. Responding to this email and letting me know what you think.

3. Picking up your copy of Start. Scale. Exit. Repeat.

And if you made it this far, thank you for reading.

I hope you enjoyed this edition of the StartUp.Club Newsletter.

— Colin C. Campbell

Entrepreneur Fact of the Month: Entrepreneurs who previously failed are more likely to succeed the next time.

Harvard Business School studies show founders with past failure experience have a significantly higher probability of building a successful company than first-time founders, because they make better decisions around hiring, cash flow, and product-market fit.